Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
Airbus CEO Sees ‘Flying Car’ Prototype Ready by End of Year
January 17th, 2017Via: Reuters: Airbus Group plans to test a prototype for a self-piloted flying car as a way of avoiding gridlock on city roads by the end of the year, the aerospace group’s chief executive said on Monday. Airbus last year formed a division called Urban Air Mobility that is exploring concepts such as a vehicle […]
Air Force Tests IBM’s Brain-Inspired Chip as an Aerial Tank Spotter
January 17th, 2017Nope, there aren’t any SkyNet jokes in the article. Via: MIT Technology Review: Satellites, aircraft, and growing numbers of drones—the U.S. Air Force has a lot of electronic eyes in the sky. Now it’s exploring whether brain-inspired computer chips could give those systems the smarts to do things like automatically identify vehicles such as tanks […]
‘Side Hustle’ as a Sign of the Apocalypse
January 14th, 2017Definitely related: L.A. Coliving: PodShare Via: Medium: “These days, everyone needs a side hustle,” starts the Uber commercial recruiting new drivers. And it’s got bouncy music and the dude is hip and it makes it sound like this is super fun and I’m sitting there thinking: Are they seriously trying to make a “second job” […]
Facebook: Building 8
January 12th, 2017Wikipedia: Transcranial Pulsed Ultrasound: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is undergoing research to develop a helmet that could control the minds of soldiers through the use of TPU. It would have the potential to control a soldier’s stress and anxiety levels with the click of a remote controlled button.[5] Sound waves would target specific […]
European Parliament Considers Legal Status of Robots
January 12th, 2017Via: Guardian: The European parliament has urged the drafting of a set of regulations to govern the use and creation of robots and artificial intelligence, including a form of “electronic personhood” to ensure rights and responsibilities for the most capable AI. In a 17-2 vote, with two abstentions, the parliament’s legal affairs committee passed the […]
China Has Wealth of Data on What Individuals Are Doing at a Micro Level
January 11th, 2017Most of what sounds grim about this situation in China is the same in the U.S. Via: CBC: Living in China, it’s safe to assume pretty much everything about you is known — or easily can be known — by the government. Where you go, who you’re with, which restaurants you like, when and why […]
Pentagon Successfully Tests Micro-Drone Swarm
January 10th, 2017Via: Physorg: The Pentagon may soon be unleashing a 21st-century version of locusts on its adversaries after officials on Monday said it had successfully tested a swarm of 103 micro-drones. The important step in the development of new autonomous weapon systems was made possible by improvements in artificial intelligence, holding open the possibility that groups […]
Mining 24 Hours a Day with Robots
January 4th, 2017Via: MIT Technology Review: Mining companies are rolling out autonomous trucks, drills, and trains, which will boost efficiency but also reduce the need for human employees. Each of these trucks is the size of a small two-story house. None has a driver or anyone else on board. Mining company Rio Tinto has 73 of these […]
IBM Watson Replaces Insurance Claim Workers at Japanese Insurance Company
January 4th, 2017Via: Quartz: Most of the attention around automation focuses on how factory robots and self-driving cars may fundamentally change our workforce, potentially eliminating millions of jobs. But AI that can handle knowledge-based, white-collar work are also becoming increasingly competent. One Japanese insurance company, Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance, is reportedly replacing 34 human insurance claim workers […]
Foxconn Plans to Replace Almost Every Human Worker with Robots
January 1st, 2017Just in case anyone out there thinks that this is somehow not real, or not going to happen, ASUS moved to 100% automation for video card production back in 2015. Via: The Verge: Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturing giant behind Apple’s iPhone and numerous other major electronics devices, aims to automate away a vast majority of […]
